Schools

New Lenox District 122 Sets 2011-12 Goals

District administrators went through goals for this school year with the Board of Education during a Wednesday meeting. Many of the goals are similar to last year's set.

School District 122 administrators and board members went over goals for the next year, and many are continuations of things they wanted to focus on last year.

Every summer, school test data comes back, and at the start of a team of people at each school look at what can be improved in that building. A district-wide team find commonalities and puts together a comprehensive list of goals.

The goals were split into four groups: student achievement, parents/community, climate/culture and budget. Here's a rundown of the goals laid out:

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Student Achievement

Improve test scores. The district wanted to target the lowest two quartiles of student testers to increase those who on the Terra Nova tests from the previous year, and improve writing, reading and math scores. Associate Supt. Peggy Manvile said 85 percent of students exceeded reading standards and about 91 percent exceeded math standards.

RTI for Lowest 25% The district wants to continue its Response to Intervention program for students below the 25th percentile in testing.

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Social Science program. After purchasing a new language arts program last year, the district will explore the need and cost of a new social sciences textbook adoption.

Parents/Community

Cyberbullying education. This was a district goal last year, with the idea being that the schools could partner somehow with parents, perhaps through signing a compact to keep kids of a certain age away from certain social media.

Manville said that never happened, but that it's something the district should focus on because "all of our children have tecnological devices ... they just don't always know how to communicate on them."

Increased accessibility. The district purchased PowerSchool last year to manage all of students' records, and Manville said increasing the availability and accessibility of information for parents is a goal. Right now, about two-thirds of parents have accessed PowerSchool.

Budget/Facilities

Financial forecast. This is something the school district does every year to update the school board on the five-year financial outlook of the school district. "It's been a wonderful tool," Manville said.

Facility planning. In the next few weeks, District 122 will be putting together a comprehensive plan for the board to review. It will show their priorities for facility projects, a cost estimate and possible ways to finance the projects.

Climate/Culture

Technology plan. The district already has a technology plan, but Manville said it would be worth reviewing and getting in writing for the board to look it. "I think we have to look at how our classrooms are changing so rapidly," she said, noting one example: "Since we made this plan, iPads have come into our lives."

Staff development. Perhaps the biggest goal would be to return New Lenox University and other staff development programs that benfitted teachers. These were cut out of the budget the last couple of years, and teachers have been left to do more development and training on their own.

Many of these goals are similar to last year's but will likely build on what was learned in 2010-11. To see what the goals were last year, read ""


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